COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The University of Michigan volleyball team finished an impressive end to the regular season with a 3-1 win at No. 14 Ohio State Friday night (Nov. 23) at St. John Arena. Set scores were 25-22, 23-25, 25-18 and 25-20. Michigan ended the regular season with road wins at Big Ten rivals Michigan State and Ohio State on its way to postseason play.

Junior Lexi Erwin(Spring, Texas/Woodlands College Park) led Michigan's offense with 22 kills and reached 1,000 for her career on the first point of the fourth set. She now has 1,006 kills in her career. Juniors Molly Toon(Middleton, Wis./Middleton) and Jennifer Cross(Scarborough, Ontario/Birchmount Park Collegiate) added 14 and 13 terminations, respectively, while sophomore Lexi Dannemiller(West Chester, Ohio/Lakota West) had 49 assists and made it a double-double with 10 digs. FreshmanTiffany Morales(Redondo Beach, Calif./Redondo Union) collected 21 digs, and Cross led U-M with four blocks.

Michigan hit .423 on its way to a first-set win over the Buckeyes. The Wolverines scored the first three points of the match, capped by an OSU attack error. A Toon kill gave U-M a 7-3 lead. The Buckeyes chipped away at the lead, trailing 8-7 on a Mari Hole kill, but the Maize and Blue made it 13-10 on an Erwin termination. A Hole attack error put Michigan on top 17-14 as Ohio State called a timeout. Cross' kill made it 20-17 U-M. Ohio State trailed just 23-22 on a Hole kill, but Michigan closed out the set on an Erwin kill, winning 25-22 and taking the early lead.

Michigan jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the second set on a Buckeye error, but Ohio State tied the set at seven on a Kaitlyn Leary kill. McElheny's termination gave the Maize and Blue an 8-7 lead. One of four Ohio State blocks made it 9-8 OSU, and the Buckeyes never trailed again in the set. Ohio State went up 19-11 on an Anna Faul kill, but Michigan chipped away at that lead. Cross' solo block, one of four Michigan blocks in the set, cut the lead to 20-15, forcing OSU to call time. A Toon kill and a service ace from freshman Kelly Murphy(Marietta, Ga./Walton) then made it 22-20. Another Toon kill put Michigan down just 24-23, but Ohio State won the set on a Michigan attack error.

The Wolverines controlled the third set, hitting .455 on their way to a 25-18 win. Michigan went up 7-3 on a Buckeye attack error, and a service ace from freshman Lindsey Lerg(Farmington Hills, Mich./Mercy) put the Maize and Blue up 10-5. An ace from junior Ally Sabol(Los Angeles, Calif./Marymount) pushed Michigan's edge to 15-8. McElheny's kill made it 19-10, and her kill put the Wolverines up 21-14. Kills from Cross and Toon ended the third set.

Michigan controlled the second half of the fourth set to take the match over the Buckeyes. A Wolverine attack error gave OSU a 10-8 lead, but a kill from freshman Krystalyn Goode(River Hills, Wis./Nicolet) put the Maize and Blue on top, 11-10. The two teams traded points, but a big five-point run from the Wolverines put U-M up 18-14. Erwin had two kills in that run. Ohio State got as close as 21-19, but Erwin and Toon had the last four kills in the set to earn the victory.

Michigan hit .273 in the match and had seven service aces. The Wolverines defense also held Ohio State to a .215 hitting percentage. Michigan outdug Ohio State, 61-57, and had seven total blocks.

Michigan will now watch the NCAA Selection Show this Sunday (Nov. 25) at 4 p.m. to find out its next opponent. The show will be broadcast on ESPNU.

N O T E S

 Lexi Erwin put down her 1,000th career kill on the first point of the fourth set in tonight's win over No. 14 Ohio State. Erwin now has 1,006 kills in her Michigan career.

 The win at No. 14 Ohio State was Michigan's fifth against a ranked opponent in 2012. It was the first road win against a ranked opponent this season.

 Michigan has won two straight matches against Ohio State in St. John Arena. The Maize and Blue also won in four sets on Oct. 1, 2010.

 Michigan improves to 5-7 on the road and 4-5 in four-set matches this season.

 Lexi Erwin has now collected 20 or more kills six times this season. It also was her eighth career 20-kill performance.

 Tiffany Morales had her sixth 20-plus dig performance in tonight's match. She also led Michigan in digs for the 26th time this season.